Born Again
by Peppermint Dream
Summary: What would happen if Inu-Yasha and the gang died, and Kagome was all alone, and the only comfort she could find was in the person she would least expect… an enemy? Renkotsu/Kagome AU One-Shot... No rude comments and flames. Thanks. Please read and review.


**Born Again**

By: Porcelain-Requiem (a.k.a. Peppermint Dream)

Disclaimer: Slightly AU… I own no one in this story…

Synopsis: What would happen if Inu-Yasha and the gang died, and Kagome was all alone, and the only comfort she could find was in the person she would least expect… an enemy?

--

Kagome Higurashi sat on the bottom step of her front porch, gazing out into the stars around her. So long had it been since her first journey to the Feudal era, so long had it been since her days as a young schoolgirl. Now an adult of twenty-four, she thought back to all those years ago. The entire thing seemed like a dream to her. But no, dreams you'd eventually wake up from, and this dream was nothing like that. No matter how many times she tried to deny it, it was real. That nightmare that continued to haunt her every thought, that endless dream – abandoning its entire splendor and transforming itself into a world of hell – the people she had met and lost….

Her thoughts grew deeper. And soon she remembered something she had almost forgotten in the midst of that entire nightmare, that one man….

+ +FLASHBACK+ +

"Where are you taking me?" Kagome demanded, as her captor flatfootedly hopped over the branches of the trees that grew in the forest.

"Answer me!" She demanded, but his silent conduct gave no expression of a reply. Her eyes welled with tears, and she began struggling to escape from his grasp. But if she did, where would she go? The undead man's fellow warriors had been slaughtered killing all her comrades. They had taken the lives of all that she'd known in this dream world.

"First Inu-Yasha… then Miroku… and Sango… and Shippou…." She thought, almost passing out and vomiting at remembering their dead, bloodied bodies. But she struggled still, "I can't stay with this man. He was with them, the group that killed my friends." She thought, the queasy feeling in her stomach growing worse.

"I wouldn't squirm if I were you." He said flatly, "It's a pretty long drop from here." Kagome looked deep in to his dark eyes. Why was he saving her? He had murdered all her allies and now, he was saving her. Why? "Probably because I have the Jewel shards…." She thought, remembering that was the reason she'd even come to this era. Sighing, she stopped struggling, and let him continue to carry her.

"What good are a couple of shards to me anyway?" She thought sadly. She had no reason to continue looking for them; she didn't even want to be in the Feudal age anymore.

Finally landing, the captor took her in to a deep, dank cave. "Are you going to kill me?" She asked, perplexingly. He gave no answer, but reached in to his shirt. She looked confusedly at his actions. Pulling out something that was apparently food, he empathically said, "Eat." How could he think of eating at a time like this? He just killed her friends. Why did she feel so relaxed by his calm demeanor? She knew he was a killer, yet she felt drawn to him, like a moth to a flame. Nibbling on the provisions he had given her, she looked over to him. His face was turned away from her, but she could see his eyes. They looked evil, but pleading, as if for answers. She couldn't seem to look away from them.

Turning to her, he said, "You should sleep." Slowly, he undid her blood-stained uniform, and removed her shoes and socks. Feeling embarrassed, being in nothing but her underwear, he took off his own shirt, and placed it around her small shoulders.

Her brown eyes fought back tears, and she pleaded with him for an answer, "Why are you doing this?" By now, the tears were evidently shown. "Why are you keeping me alive like this? Why don't you just kill me like you did with all the others? Is it because I can sense Jewel shards? Why would you want them anyway, you don't even have comrades anymore?"

He turned away from her, hiding the tears that trailed down his cheeks that were dressed in purple war paint. "Do you think I came for Jewel shards?" He questioned her, sounding as though he were offended by her words. "I follow orders, young priestess… it's all I can do. I was told by my leader, Bankotsu, to gather all the Jewel shards for him. But if he's dead, what purpose do I have in following him? Do you think I brought you here so that I could take them from you? Since you survived, I felt it right to bring you away from that place. I have no reason to still abide by my leader's code. My team has fallen. You also lost your team, so what point could you have being in this day and age? What will you do?"

She looked shocked by his words, he shared her pain, and he knew how she felt, this cold killer. "I don't know." She said, tears dripping down to her legs, "I'd die." She replied in almost a whisper.

"So, you'd abscond like a coward?" He asked, his calloused fist clenching her petite arm. She winced at his touch, it didn't hurt, just scared her. Rage was apparent in his words, "Well, though I've lost all I had, I will still live on, even if it hurts me." With wide brown eyes full of surprise at his words, she looked deeply into his mysterious expression. He lost his harsh approach, and now seemed gentler than usual.

"I apologize…" He said softly. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Without even realizing it, she reached out her hand and slowly stroked the purple spread on his cheek. It never smeared, just stayed freshly on his tissue. Her hand lowered, and began to pet his back. Scars blanketed almost every inch of it. "Are these… from battles…?" She asked, unsurely stroking them. His voice cracked slightly, almost as if he were ready to cry at her words. "Yes…." He murmured, two of his fingers playing with the wisps of hair on her face. She quickly pulled away from him, trying to hide her rosy cheeks.

"My entire life has revolved around fighting, young priestess." He said, leaning his back against the cave's wall.

"Such sorrow…" She said, "I never knew how much you must have gone through in battles. To me, you were always just…" Her voice trailed off, and he finished her sentence, "… a murderer?" Guiltily, she nodded, making him turn his scar covered back to her. "Well," He slowly said, "I am…."

Giving her a weird look, he picked up all of his armor, and slowly formed it into a pile, along with some dirt and sand from the cave. Then, he picked up the jar of oil he'd carried on his missions. It was almost entirely empty. All that remained were a few drops. Slowly, he drank the last of it, letting it all into his mouth and throat. Then, he shot a burst of flame out of his mouth, making the pile of his armor burst into a warm red-orange glow. Little sparks of the deadly warmth, floated around the center of the dark cave, enveloping the midnight air with its delicate light. Kagome felt safer, it almost reminded her of Inu-Yasha and all her friends when they used to camp out. Tilting her head back against the rough wall, she started trying to drift off to sleep. But the rocks were jagged, and sleep was too hard for her after all the torment that had happened. Shivering, she pulled his shirt around her petite frame. Sitting down next to her, he gave her a puzzled look.

"Can't sleep?" He asked, almost sounding concerned. She fought back tears.

She cried out, "I… I just wish Inu-Yasha were here… all my friends were here… then… then maybe I wouldn't feel so scared…." She squeezed the man's clothing closer, "I'm not used to being alone…." She said, looking up at him, "I just wish they were here to hold me…." By now, she had started crying at her own words, she missed them so much, and nothing she did could ever bring them all back. Even if she'd gathered all the Jewel shards, she would only be able to bring one of them. "It's just not fair." She whispered.

Cocking an eyebrow, he slowly wrapped his arm around her. "I know it will never be the same as your friends, but if it will help you sleep…."

Her face flushed in surprise, "Why is he being so kind to me?" She thought, finding herself resting in his grip.

Sighing, he said in a soft voice, "Lots of things in life are unfair. It's just reality, you lose the ones you love in the end, but life goes on, still blowing like an eternal breeze. Nothing you love ever lasts, sometimes…" His eyes looked soft with tears forming inside them, "… sometimes you don't even know what it's like to be loved." His rough hand clenched her shoulder tighter, and the tears glittered against his dark eyes.

Realizing he was referring to himself, she raised her hand and softly wiped his tears away. Turning his head toward her, he gave a weak smile. "I… I'm sorry…." She whispered, wiping his wet cheeks. "Such pain…" She said, "I never realized… just how much… pain you went through." Reaching up to his towering frame, she pressed her lips against his. Never in his life had he experienced something like this, but he softly returned it.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked, perplexedly at her actions, "I'm a murderer."

She nodded, "I know, but you're different… you were only following orders…. Would you have fought and killed if you hadn't been in the Band of Seven?"

The man went silent, and Kagome hugged his arm tightly. "I… just feel so safe with you…." Grasping his shoulders, she gave a deeper kiss, slowly opening her soft mouth. Lightly licking his lips, uncertain of her actions, he slowly opened his mouth and allowed her to taste its inner core. Smiling as she searched his mouth, he intertwined his own tongue around hers. Savoring this new love he was experiencing, he closed his eyes and let her clothe him with her love. Breaking the kiss, he whispered, "What was that for?"

"It was for everything you've done for me." She replied, taking hold of his cheeks. "You have been very kind to me, despite all the wrong things you've done. You've been compassionate, noble, kind, and wise. I don't fully know why, but I love you." Without another word said, their lips met again, this time, even stronger than before. Sinking to the cave's bottom, they rolled around, caught up in the heat of the moment. Kagome had never felt so safe, even while she was with Inu-Yasha. She loved this man. Even though he was a man of destruction, who had never even known the meaning of the word 'love', he had selflessly taken her life into his own two hands. "These calloused hands that had been stained with blood countless times…." She thought as she clasped them firmly in her own.

Gently smiling, she placed his hand on her cheek, rubbing her face in to it. He smiled, resting his other hand on her stomach. Inching it up slowly, he glided it over her bosom and rested it lovingly on her arm. Removing the shirt he'd given her, his lips made their way down her neck and onto her shoulder. She closed her eyes, savoring his touch. She felt so at ease. How could something so wrong feel so right at the same time? The fire flickered, making their shadows dance along the wall. Reaching out her hand, she stroked the wall where their silhouettes moved, a smile spread across her face.

Looking into his eyes, she heard him whisper, "Sleep well, and dream of happy things." Slowly laying her body down, he placed his shirt atop her small frame, making sure she was nice and warm. Nuzzling into it, she drifted away into slumber. Smiling at her, as she slept, he murmured, "Thank you little priestess." Keeping his eyes focused on her as she slept, he thought to himself, "Maybe it was fate that we were on opposing sides. Maybe it was the god of wind who brought us closer together." Stroking her hair, he whispered, "Good-bye… Seraph of light…" Gathering whatever items he had left, he slowly retreated to the wilderness.

The daylight hit Kagome's face, welcoming her in to its splendid warmth. Opening her eyes, she looked around for the mysterious man, but he was nowhere to be found. "He's gone." She thought, still holding his shirt over her body. She clutched it tighter, never would she let go. "This is all that I have left of you." She thought, tightly squeezing the memento. Clothing her body in it, as well as her skirt, she peeked outside the cave to see the Bone Eaters' well.

"He brought me here on purpose." She thought, "He and his fellow men must have found out I was from a different time." She held her heart, "That also explains why he left without me. He brought me home. But…" She thought, crying as she peered down the empty well, "… but… do I really want to leave?" Without a second thought, Kagome leapt into the well.

"Mother needs to know all about what happened, and she's probably worried sick about me." She thought, climbing out of the well, and in to her own era, she stood on the floor of her family's shrine. Quickly being greeted by her mother, she was taken inside the house and given lots of good snacks to eat.

+ +END OF FLASHBACK+ +

Smiling, she wondered, "What would I have done without you? Would I have chosen death, and 'absconded like a coward?' Would I have shown you your first and last moments of love?" Tears of bliss mixed with regret filled her beautiful brown eyes, "Was the love we shared only temporary? Could we have made it work?" Wiping her tearstained face in to her shirtsleeves, she gazed up in the direction of the now rising sun. Birds glided over the cerulean atmosphere of her home. "Life really is beautiful." She thought, a smile spreading across her face, "And I would've never acknowledged that without you…." She touched the sleeves of the shirt… his shirt that he had given her all that time ago. It now fit her nicely, enveloping her lovely frame in its silk cloth. Hugging her own body tightly, her heart full of happiness, she whispered, "I have to go back. I need to see him again…." Getting up, she walked in her family's house, and began packing.

"You're going back?" Her younger brother asked, as she said her good-byes to each of her family members. "But why? Inu-Yasha and the others are dead."

"Yes…" She replied. "But I really think that I belong there, more than I do here. And, I want to see someone again."

"Well, be sure to visit us when you can dear." Her mother said, hugging her. "And maybe introduce us to this someone sometime."

"I will." Kagome promised, as she ran toward the Bone Eaters' well. "Good-bye and thank you." She smiled, and leapt down the well, and returned to the Feudal Era.

She looked around, and saw the tree where she'd first met Inu-Yasha. It would never be the same without him, and the others; yet Kagome tried her best not to dwell too much on that.

"I never imagined I'd run across you here." A kind, familiar voice greeted. "You decided to return, after all these years?"

"Renkotsu!" Kagome cried, recognizing the sweet voice of the kind man who had helped her that dark, lonely night. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't really forget you." He said, blushing a little. "I thought it would be best if you and I went our separate ways, but I kept coming back here, hoping I'd see you again. I guess I was foolish to think that. You made me born again, born to a newfound joyful life."

Without a second thought, Kagome flung herself on top of him, and blanketed his face with kisses. They pulled apart from each other briefly, and smiled.

"No, Renkotsu…" Kagome murmured. "It was you who made me born again, born to a life of hope, in spite of all its uncertainties. I love you."

They embraced each other, and smiled, as the warm sunlight clothed them with a happy glow.

+ +The End+ +

--

Author's Note: Okay, let me know if you liked it. Can't wait to hear from you.


End file.
